Deeply Disappointing (but no reason to give up)

 “The Truth Shall Set You Free”

(2 Timothy 3:6-7)

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,

4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ...

5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,

7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

For among them are those who creep into households

In this world we will have tribulation, but Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Church tribulation is deeply disappointing. The warning that Paul gives Timothy is horrible news about the gospel era. Christians, even Ministers of the Word will slink into other peoples homes, taking advantage of bonds of Christian affection to work their own evil schemes.

Such people probably do not set out consciously to invade a troubled home and to destroy someone else's marriage and family life. But that is what they do. They are deceived and they deceive and harm others who they may sincerely admire.

and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,

Who are the weak and who are the strong in the church? It is not always easy to tell.

Christians have access to the personal lives of other Christians when we walk through this life with each other. Will we abuse this intimacy to satisfy our own need to be a rescue party of one? Do we want to be admired and appreciated so much by people that we would use the weak for our own strange purposes?

There are foolish women in this world who may think of themselves as very spiritually strong, but who are not well acquainted with honesty and integrity in their most important commitments. They are easily led astray by various eager longings.

Paul says “various” passions here because people can be captivated by more than just physical lust. We can have a lust for spiritual intimacy and the approval of others, for instance. Or we can have a lust for other people's lives that are not our own. God has given one woman the gift of understanding the sufferings of Christ better as she struggles to be faithful in a difficult marriage. But what if she rejects that gift, and lusts after a different relationship that may even appear to be more pleasing to God than her own?

always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

The deception in this is very thick. A woman may be very intellectual and seem very attentive to spiritual growth, and all the while she may be captivated by various lusts, She is never able to experience much sanctification, because she is more interested in appearing spiritual than in pursuing holiness in the fear of the Lord.

Only the One who is the truth can set us free from this kind of fake life, and we need His ministry desperately in the church. We need Him to expose our sin and then we need to embrace His saving love. When we do that, various passions that used to captivate us will lose their power, we will be able to have the true spiritual awareness to see evil as evil, and to flee from it.

May the Lord who loved us in the genuine spirituality of the cross be a powerful protector in these evil days, and may he grant true repentance and restoration to those who have fallen.